Innocence
by Sketchling
Summary: "My aunt told me that girls love to be asked to dance. Especially by a handsome young man." POST-MANGA, SPOILERS -ROYAI- R&R!


** A/N:** It's been a while since I did a one-shot, so I decided to make one. I got the idea from the song 'Innocence' by Avril Lavigne. I was going to add it to my Royai 100 themes challenge because I was positive that I saw a prompt on there called 'innocence', but I guess I was mistaken…xD

**Disclaimer:** I do not own FMA, nor do I own Innocence by Avril Lavigne.

"_This innocence is brilliant_

_I hope that it will stay_

_This moment is perfect, please don't go away_

_I need you now_

_And I'll hold onto it,_

_Don't you let it pass you by"_

_**Innocence**_

_Plip, plip_

_ Riza threw small pebbles from her spot on the roof of her house onto the hard pavement below. Some of the pebbles slid down the roof clumsily and fell into the gutter, while others went soaring angrily through the air, landing roughly on the ground below._

_ Her emotions were as mixed as the force in which she threw the pebbles with. Her father wanted her to quit school and let him home school her instead. Why? Riza had no idea. She was a straight-A student and never missed a single day, nor was she ever tardy. In fact, she arrived at school early. The twelve-year-old snatched up a pebble furiously._

_ But then again…his choice may have been influenced by the bruises and scrapes she often brought home with her. She paused mid-throw, her arm drooping lifelessly to the roof's rough material._

_ It would be silly of her to deny that she was constantly bullied and picked on by other children at her school. Who wouldn't pick on her? Riza was rather serious and quiet for her age, and her social skills were far from perfect. She never attended school dances or events. Her haircut was very short and made her look rather boyish. Riza preferred to wear jeans or shorts over a skirt._

_ However, these were things she had learned to deal with. After all, it wasn't as if things were going to get easier; she would most likely go through worse in high school._

_ The blonde girl gripped the small rock hard in her hand before standing up and hurling it onto the street below her house. She let out a satisfied huff when it hit the ground with a loud 'crack!'._

_ That was when she heard a scraping sound coming from behind her. Riza whirled around, pebble in hand, only to find herself face-to-face with the person she most definitely did not want to confront at that moment._

_ Roy Mustang. Her father's student._

_ He blinked his onyx eyes at her curiously. They glittered like diamonds in the faint moonlight—_

_ Wait. Did she just seriously compare Mr. Mustang's eyes to _diamonds_? Riza dropped the pebble back onto the roof and ignored it as it tumbled down into the gutter._

_ "What do you want?" It was hard for her to keep the anger from showing in those four simple words._

_ "I just wanted to see how you were doing," he replied nonchalantly with a shrug. The older boy took a step forward and she took a step back. A frustrated sigh escaped him. "Please, I'm not the plague or anything. I just want to make sure you're okay. I mean, you looked pretty upset." Of course. How could she forget? Mr. Mustang had walked in on her and father's dispute._

_ She snorted. "Do I look okay, Mr. Mustang?" Riza asked, letting the annoyance seep through. "I'm not okay. I'm most definitely upset. My father wants me to quit school so he can…so he can home school me." She spat out 'home school' like it was a disgusting word._

_ Roy smirked that stupid smirk of his. "I'm surprised; I'd be overjoyed if my aunt ordered me to quit school."_

_ That was it. "Well, in case you haven't noticed, my father is a monster!" Riza snapped bitterly, not caring if her father heard her or not. "You think he's making me quit because he cares? Oh, that's rich. He wasn't there for me when Mom died. He didn't even keep his promise!" Her voice had raised to a shout by now, and Roy's smirk turned upside down._

_ "What promise?"_

_ "He…he promised Mom when she was dying that he'd take care of me. He promised her he'd quit worrying about alchemy and worry about me." God, Riza hated the selfishness in her voice. But it was true. "If I make a promise," she vowed, her voice rising again. "I will keep that promise."_

_ Suddenly, Roy grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Her breath was taken from her as his arms went around her waist, holding her tightly._

_ "Riza," he murmured. His voice sent chills down her spine. "Dance with me."_

_ Riza was stunned. She just let out her emotions to him (something she had never done to anyone) and he was asking her to _dance_?_

_ Roy chuckled when he noticed her confusion. "My aunt told me that girls love to be asked to dance. Especially by a handsome young man." His eyebrows wiggled at that last statement and she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. That boy would do anything to feed his ego._

_ "Okay," she sighed, deciding to play along. "But we don't have any music to dance to. And even if we did, it wouldn't matter because I can't dance."_

_ He smirked into her short blonde hair. "That makes two of us. And we don't need music to dance."_

_ "Um, I'm pretty sure we do, Mr. Mustang—"_

_ "Oh really? Because we're already dancing."_

_ "Eh?" Without even her realizing it, their bodies had begun to sway, and her fingers had intertwined themselves with Roy's. A hard blush rushed to Riza's face and she buried her face into Roy's t-shirt, trying to avoid making eye contact._

_ They danced slowly across the roof of her house, step by careful step. Both were equally scared of saying something that would ruin the moment, so they remained silent and focused on swaying to the music in their heads._

Lt. Hawkeye let out a soft sigh as she gazed out the window of the hospital room she shared with her superior. The woman wasn't the type to reminisce, but at that moment, when Roy had danced with her…she'd felt at complete and utter peace. She felt she deserved the right to recall her feelings on that night, especially after what she'd been forced to endure only a few days ago.

Her fingers softly touched the bandages on her neck. It had hurt so bad, being cut like that. However, her body hardly registered the pain until she was up and moving again.

Mustang had left to regain his eyesight yesterday. That was the main reason why she was even standing at her hospital room window at eleven pm; because the doctors were concerned about her wound, she hadn't been able to go with Mustang to restore his sight (much to her displeasure). She couldn't sleep without him popping into her mind. He should be back by now, right? Then again, the Lt. was no alchemy expert, and had no way of knowing how long these things would take. The blonde woman let out an uncharacteristic frustrated huff and folded her arms across her chest.

"Miss me?"

Riza's bright caramel eyes widened as she whirled around. Her heart was racing and her mind was numb. They settled when she met the familiar onyx gaze of the Colonel. "S-s-sir!"

His smirk stretched into a lazy grin—God, she loved that smile—and he shrugged nonchalantly. "I'll take that as a yes."

Riza took in his form. He was dressed in the same clothes that he had left in. The only difference to them was some dirt stains on the legs on his pants. She let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

And, all of a sudden, as that breath passed through her lips, everything hit her in a rush; the Promised Day was over. They'd won. Everyone was alive, more or less. Roy was alive. She was alive. They were safe, and Roy had his sight back. Relief and happiness flooded through her veins, pushing her body to move on its own accord.

She rushed towards her superior and hopped up to his height, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. His arms reacted immediately and caught her by her waist as her legs wrapped themselves around his torso. Tears of gratefulness streamed involuntarily down her cheeks as she buried her face into the crook of his neck.

"You're okay," she finally managed to choke out.

"I'm okay," the older adult agreed in a whisper, stroking her long blonde hair.

They stood there for as long as Roy could support her weight, enjoying each other's presence. Then the raven-haired man, sat down on one of the two hospital beds in the room, taking his Lt. with him. He held her on his lap, gently caressing her back and tracing the burn scars that rested there.

"You know," Roy spoke suddenly, breaking the gentle silence. "Madame Christmas told me that girls love to be asked to dance."

Riza lifted her head from his neck and chuckled softly, wiping her eyes. "I hate to break it to you, but there isn't any music for us to dance to, Colonel."

The man stood, gently placing her on her feet. He smiled at her—not a smirk, not a mischievous grin, but a genuine smile—and placed his hands on her waist softly. "We don't need any."

The sharpshooter smiled back at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning into his embrace, silently agreeing.

The couple swayed across the hospitals hard floor in the dim light of the moonlight to the music in their heads, smiling to themselves quietly. This was their bliss. Their happiness. Their peace.

It was their innocence.

_**~Owari~**_

** A/N: **Oh my God. I am SO out of it right now xD; But I'm pleased with the outcome of this fic, and I hope you are, too! Please review and let me know what you think! ~Sketch


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